Berry Tramel: Networks don’t buy Kevin Durant theory

Sam Smith, as reputable as any NBA writer the last 20 years, reported a couple of weeks ago on some whispers around the league that Kevin Durant eventually could be a better ballplayer than LeBron James.

Interesting theory. I don’t know if I buy it, but it sure is fun to think about. Durant is a wondrous talent; a 6-foot-10 shooting whiz who also can run and jump and do all kinds of things in the open court.

Truth is, Durant ranks with LeBron and Kevin Garnett (when healthy) and Dirk Nowitzki as the NBA’s most unique players. There’s really no one else in the league like any of them.

But the NBA’s television networks don’t buy the Durant-might-pass-LeBron idea. If TNT or ESPN/ABC believed that Durant was the second coming of King James, your Oklahoma City Thunder would not have just one measly national telecast this coming season.

ESPN plans to show the Thunder when it hosts Dallas on Dec. 16. Two other OKC games are set for NBATV, but it’s a stretch to call them national telecasts. NBATV is the MySpace to TNT’s and ESPN’s Facebook.

If the basketball minds at TNT and ESPN believed that Durant was driving down LeBron Boulevard, the Thunder would get more than a token appearance.

I know it’s a hard sell to telecast a franchise that has won 43 games combined the last two years. It’s a crowded market. Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers, Magic, Bulls, Spurs, Suns, Nuggets, Hornets, Jazz, Rockets, Mavericks, Heat. The league is full of marquee teams with superstar players.

Three factors equate to TV favor: team success, star power and market size.

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by Berry Tramel

Columnist

Berry Tramel, a lifelong Oklahoman, sports fan and newspaper reader, joined The Oklahoman in 1991 and has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist. Tramel grew up reading four daily newspapers — The Oklahoman,...